Balanced, yes, but for how long?

Our opinion: Albany’s books look balanced, but what happens when state and federal money runs out?

There’s good news and bad news from Albany. First, the good: The city has apparently stitched together a budget that doesn’t raise taxes and it’s hiring more police with the help of a federal grant.

And now, the bad: The city has apparently stitched together a budget that doesn’t raise taxes and it’s hiring more police with the help of a federal grant.

You don’t need to do a double take; both the good and the bad news are the same.

We can’t deny the appeal of a budget that doesn’t raise taxes, nor can we fault the Jennings administration (or the Tutunjian administration in Troy) for taking advantage of a federal grant program that pays for more police officers for three years.

The concern, though, is whether all this is creating a more sustainable government, or an even more fundamentally imbalanced one. It appears, unfortunately, that the latter is the case in Albany.

Mayor Jerry Jennings plans to balance the budget he presented Friday with the help of an extra $7.8 million in possible state “spin-up” funds and $5.6 million in surplus money. The mayor and his administration deserve credit for persuading Governor Cuomo to pony up more aid, pending legislative approval, and achieving a $10.5 million fund balance in such tough times. But the state money and fund balance are temporary at best. They only paper over a $13.4 million hole in the budget.

And it could grow.

Last week, U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand announced that the city was awarded a $3.9 million, three-year federal grant to hire 16 police officers for its community policing efforts. The move would bring the department to 342 officers. Troy is adding two more with the help of about $350,000.

But keep in mind the Albany force was cut last year from 338 to 326 because of budget constraints, and it is actually down to 315 officers because the department hasn’t filled vacancies left by retirements. A city that could perhaps just barely pay for the police force it had is now enlarging it with funds that will soon enough disappear.

The force has been on a similar roller coaster for the past two decades as its ranks and its ability to pay for them ebbed and flowed with federal grants.

This is not to say that federal grants don’t have value. We’ve supported them in particular for one-time capital investments, like railroad improvements. But fattening the city’s payroll for a few years when all signs point to a budget shortfall down the road only adds to the sense of constant fiscal crisis. It’s not fair to citizens or police.

This is also not to say the city shouldn’t take the police grant, only that it’s vital that the mayor and chief have a plan that’s more than 12 months long. What Common Council members should ask the mayor and his administration in coming weeks is whether and how they see the city sustaining this level of spending two, three, four and even more years from now.